MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - With sub-zero temperatures in Milwaukee on Friday night, EMT crews are making sure they can brace the cold to keep response times quick.

“Just remembering that if we don’t stay safe, we can’t get to the patient and take care of them,” Kayla Pacourek with BELL Ambulance said.

The BELL Ambulance crew relies on the basics like extra layers and hand warmers to combat the cold.

“We can’t help anybody if we don’t help ourselves,” BELL Client Services Coordinator Russell Johnston said. “We gotta layer up, we want to be comfortable.”

BELL ambulances are stocked with extra blankets and heating packs, ready to help treat hypothermia and frostbite.

“We get these in where they need to go and then bundle them back up the best we can with blankets and blast the heat,” Johnston said.

No matter how cold it gets, ambulance crews are still needed, and this crew is ready to go as the calls come in.

“I’m doing everything I can to get to that person safely so that they can actually get care and not be delayed by needing another ambulance coming to them,” Pacourek said.